Fire apparatus



June 2 2 1926.

J. B. BLAW FIRE APPARATUS Filed Oct. 6, 1924- )fn venfor. Jaco/7 15'. 675W.

ii W6. 2

Patented .lune 22, 1926.

UNITED SlT n.1"'ILZSZ` JACOB B. BLAW, OF ATLANTICfGITYJ, NEW JERSEY.

FIERE APPALELATIUS.

Applicationr filed October; 6,1924. Seriali No.4 741,798.'

The-object. of my invention isto provide asuitable equipment terextinguishingy lires arising` in inaccessible locations such asin garages Where there isusually only a( single doorwayy communicating with the street` and through whichv the smoke and fumes are compelled to escape and thusmaketit impracticable for firemen' to. enter. and operate in the usual manner.

My inventionhas artnr-ther. object in providii'ig-'portable devices adapted to be carried with the lire truck (or made partY of anequiprnent With the garage)v whereby an ordinary ladder may be utilized for supporting the tire nozzle and. hose and adijustably positioned for accurate directing of the Water stream upon the tire Without the necessity or' firemen` entering the building.

My improvements comprehend detachable truck upon which the ladder is. clamped intermediate oi its ends and preferably to oneof the rungs thereof land by which the ladder .may be moved longitudinally or swung around atcvarious ang glesinv ahorizontal plane, the said ladderl being tui-ther provided with a lire hose adjustable clamp also adapted to be carried upon the rungs of the ladder at its extreme end portion, the hose from the nozzle being preferably supported lengthwise of the ladder upon the rungs thereof` and furnished. near the other end of the ladder With acontrolvalve, the whole operating inV such. manner that the ladder. may be eXte1ided.-throug h a smoke illed passage with the nozzle directed laterally so that its stream-may reach aliirevwhich otherwise is inaccessible and'ithe stream controlledfroni outside of the building Without danger to the liremen. i

The improvement will be better understood by reference to the drawings in which: Fig.l l` is a plan View of abuilding'showing my .improvements in operative relation thereto; Fig.' E2, is a plan view-ot a portion of theV ladderi withv my improvements applied thereto; Fig, 8 is ai Vertical section taken on linev 3-3 of Fig. 2; and Fig. is a perspective View 01"' the detachabletruclr which supports the ladder.

2 represents the interior oi' a garage building of. which 3fis the entrance. and through which access is alone possible to the interior thereof. et indicates a position of lire 1which maybe so located Within the building that it cannot be reached through the entrance passage 3 and the problem to be accomplished isitov play a: stream; yupon the saidfire Withoutthe. necessity vof. the ,tiremen entering the passage 3;.

TheV appheation.i for4 accomplishing: this consists ofy the Jfollowing: A. ladderv 5' may be part of the. equipment' of the firei department or any other suitable. ladder that is.,avai1able: 6 isi a` truck. of: the. general character illustratediinI Fig, 4' which isidetachably clamped to.. one ofi. the r-ungsaof the? ladder at) suchposition. along; its length asy Yfound convenient and'l uponY which. the ladder may be supported While beingmoved longitudinally or. swung; around. in various positions. andiv bywhich it may..y primarily be. introduced through" the. entrance. passage 3. tothe garage. As sliown,.the truck conf sists of a` transverse. Woodem block` 8.v provided on its. underside yWi'thi Widely spaced supporting. wheels 9. which may beoff any of the usual typessuchems-employedy under Warehouse. triueks said1 Wheels being( universally. jointed'. so.. that they. may l.swing about? a vertical axisv for easyf adjustment ot the. supporting. load6 The block 8 is provided with al air otclampsil() having adjustablev hinge clamping@ partsV 11 and looking; screws-12. whereby;V the. block may be. attached toI av rnng'ot the ladder while theladder itself may directlyl resti uponthe block to support the main Weight` ofy the ladder.- andequipinentf In, this 5 marinera/the ladder. and. the truck.` move. as" ai uniti and permitthe ladderl to be'VA balanced upon the truclrx and.g easilyl shifted` to Whatever position: mayv be desired. AAtthe.,extreme end i ofthe. ladderis. arranged" ai fire..n0zzle1clamp .7,` ywhich i. is.- also" f detachahly. clampedI to the rung; of' the ladder. endl adapted' to support the fire nozzle at any angle. desired.. As shown. inI Figs. 1-Y 2, the fire. nozzle. is directed, transverseiy of the ladder. so that the strearnf may be thrown.- laterally upon the fire at /lin Figli'. 1,. said fire. beingA at an. inaccessibleV part ot thebuilding; The

lire nozzleolamp is detachably lfastenedto the rungs of the ladder and may be constructed as shown, consisting of a head block. 131 formed. withi arms 1.4;' havingv at their lower paits clamps 15 for detachable connectionl with theriung of. the ladder;

Hinged. tothe. head' blockis a rearwardly extending arm l-havingi, at its lowerI end a: cla-mp 17 for attachment. to..` another.v of the rungs of the ladder. Pivoted upon the head block 13 is a yoke 18 adjustable about a vertical axis and upon which is pivoted on a transverse axis a saddle clamp 19 for receiving and clamping the fire nozzle 21, as shown in Fig. 3. The yoke 18 may be clamped in adjusted position by a clamping screw 24 and the saddle clamp 19. may be clamped in adjustable position by a clamping screw 25. In this manner the fire nozzle may be set at any horizontal and vertical adjustmentwhich may be necessary to insure the stream being thrown in the direction desired.

I do not restrict myself to the particular details of the nozzle clamp. A suitable construction of such means being set out in my application Serial Number 680,094, filed December 12, 1923, and the details there shown may be employed, if so desired.

The hose 22 leading from the nozzle 21 may be allowed to trail upon the ground or more conveniently may be supported upon the ladder so that it is moved into position with the least possible friction and at a distance from the nozzle and adjacent to the outer end of the ladder, said hose is provided with a control valve 2O of any suitable construction to permit the control of the stream from the nozzle. 23 represents the iire hose leading the water to the valve 20.

In using this apparatus, the nozzle is clamped in the desired position required to project the water stream where needed and with the valve 20 closed, the ladder with its equipment is pushed through the passage 3 and adjusted to any particular horizontal angle that may be desired. The water may then be turned on by the valve 2O and the stream thrown upon the fire as indicated. It will also be understood that, if desired, the stream may be partly put on when introducingthe ladder through the passage 3 if it should be necessary to provide a water screen to protect the firemen where excessively high temperatures are encountered.

It will also be understood that while I have shown a single nozzle clamp and hose line leading thereto, a plurality of such nozzle clamps may be adjusted to the ladder if so desired, and it is also to be understood that the head block 13 ma-y be provided with more than one nozzle clamp so that more than one stream may be supplied, such capacity being provided by the nozzle supports shown in my application aforesaid, and the construction of which may be adapted to the present invention, if so desired.

As a further possible use of my invention, it will be understood that where the passage 3 is very great inv length, a second ladder and supporting truck may be employed with the two ladders temporarily lashed together so that the second ladder may be utilized in pushing the forward end of the first mentioned ladder and its fire nozzle into position for effective operation of the stream.

It will now be apparent that I have devised a novel and useful construction which embodies the features of advantage enumerated as desirable, and while I have in the present instance shown and described the preferred embodiment thereof which has been found in practice to give satisfactory and reliable results, it is to be understood that I do not restrict myself to the details, as the same are susceptible of modification in various particulars without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention.

I-Iaving now described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a fire apparatus, the combination of a substantially horizontal ladder with a detachable truck arranged under the ladder intermediate of its ends and whereby it may be balanced upon the truck and freely adjusted horizontally with the truck as a pivotal support, said truck provided with clampn ing means adapted to be attached to a rung of the ladder so as to be adjustable to diierent places along its length, a detachable nozzle clam having means whereby it may be adjustab y secured to the rungs of the ladder adjacent to one end thereof and extend upwardly therefrom, and means including a lire nozzle held by the nozzle clamp to provide a stream of water, said clamp being adjustable to position the nozzle to direct the stream in any desired direction, the horizontal ladder together with the lire nozzle being movable over the ground and capable of being extended through a passage to bring the fire nozzle into an ordinarily inaccessible operative position.

2. The invention according to claim 1, wherein further, the means for supplying the water to the fire nozzle comprises a hose line extending horizontally along the ladder and supported upon the rungs thereof by gravity, and a water control valve is arranged in the hose line adjacent to the end of the ladder most distant from the lire nozzle.

3. The invention according to claim 1, wherein the truck comprises' a body frame provided with universally adjustable supporting wheels ou its lower part, and the means for attachment to the ladder comprise a plurality of widely spaced detachable clamps having apertures in alinement and adapted to detachably receive and clamp the ladder rung.

In testimony of which invention, I hereunto set my hand.

JACOB B. BLAW. 

